Marketing Information Systems - American Marketing … · Marketing Information Systems 17 volume of information inputs than market research is structured to do.^ The market research

Marketing Information Systems

CONRAD BERENSON

The author provides in-sights into the need for mar-keting information systemsand discusses their benefits,organizational needs, struc-tural requirements, and gen-eral limitations. Illustrationsof current marketing infor-mation systems are provided.

Journal of Marketing. Vol. 33 (October,1969), pp. 16-23.

DURING the past several years the words "marketing informa-tion systems" have appeared with increasing frequency in the

marketing literature. Unlike some other words which are in vogueand then disappear from sight, this phrase has prevailed and, in-deed, provided a great deal of substance and meaning for the entiremarketing community.

This paper focuses on marketing information systems, examinesthem vis-a-vis the traditional market research function, studies thebackground of the needs which initiated the development of suchsystems, and reviews the benefits, pitfalls, myths, and structure ofmarketing information systems. Obviously, with so many criticalfacets to cover in such a brief period of time, one can do little morethan indicate the major considerations that fall within the purviewof any of these categories. A comprehensive analysis of marketinginformation systems requires far more attention than just a briefpaper.

Let us turn first to a definition of "marketing information sys-tems." This is defined as an interacting structure of people, equip-ment, methods, and controls, which is designed to create an in-formation flow that is capable of providing an acceptable base formanagement decisions in marketing.

The question that logically arises when definitions of marketinginformation systems are presented is "How does it differ from thetraditional function of marketing research?" Market research or-dinarily follows an eclectic path—one time examining the pricesof one product line, and at another time reviewing competitors'packaging innovations, and the like. Usually, the marketing re-search department provides only a fraction of the data needed tomake marketing decisions which have great and far-reaching im-pact upon the company. This is not to be construed as a criticismof marketing research; all too often marketing research in bothconsumer and industrial areas fails to receive either adequatebudgets, or adequate organizational support.^

Furthermore, its mission is different from that of a marketinginformation system. The latter differs from marketing researchin that it provides, for example, continuous study of the marketingfactors which are important to an enterprise—not just intermittentexamination. It utilizes far more data sources—both internal andexternal—than does marketing research; and it accepts the re-sponsibility for receiving, analyzing and distilling a far greater

Philip Kotler, "A Design for the Firm's Marketing Nerve Center,"Business Horizons, Vol. 9 (Fall, 1966), pp. 63-74.

16

Marketing Information Systems 17

volume of information inputs than market researchis structured to do.

The market research department should be con-sidered to be one part of the marketing informationsystem. The latter would also include or work veryclosely with such organizational units as: economicresearch, operations research, long-range planning,the controller, the computer center, marketing plan-ning, and sales management.

Marketing research's traditional role as the pri-mary supplier of information to management formarketing decisions is, consequently, somewhat dif-ferent in firms with a marketing information sys-tem. In the latter, market research concentratesmore upon spot projects, fire-fighting, new areas inwhich the inputs to the system have not yet beenestablished, on data other than that likely to befound in the controller's ofi ce or the billing depart-ment, and on utilizing a variety of techniques inorder to study a particular area which is of mo-mentary interest to the firm. In firms without amarketing information system, market research con-centrates more upon such routine information assales analysis by product line and customer, determi-nation of end-use patterns, and the projection ofprice and demand trends. It does this on a somewhateclectic basis.

The Need for Marketing Information Systems

It is not at all surprising that at this time thereis a good deal of discussion and development of mar-keting information systems. Long-term trends, bothin marketing and in business in general, are inter-secting in the present time to crystallize the systemsactivity which is presently taking place. Some ofthese trends are outlined below:

• The increased complexity of business calls formore data and for better performance. Marketsare no longer local but are national in scope. Theorganization that previously may have had firmcontrol of its business in a limited area such asNew England, now finds itself on uncertaingrounds when competing with similar enterprisesin the Midwest, on the West coast, and in theSouth.

• Product life cycles have become far shorter—thus requiring more skillful management in orderto extract a profit during the reduced timeavailable.

• The marketing concept, in which the variousmarketing functions of the enterprise are or-ganized under one individual—the marketingmanager—has taken root in American industry.Since one manager now more than ever before hasthe responsibility for integrating a far-rangingvariety of marketing activities, he needs a good

deal more information so that this can be doneeffectively.'

• More companies have grown so large thatunless they make an intensive effort, such as thedevelopment of marketing information systems,their existing marketing information will be dis-persed in so many places that its effective use willbe virtually impossible.

• The speed with which today's business deci-sions have to be made has increased, and there-fore marketing systems must be developed toprovide information for such rapid decisionmaking.^

• The advent of techniques which can provideinformation for effective decision making has gonehand-in-hand with the development of marketingdecision tools. Thus, Bayesian analysis, PERT,decision trees, and factor analysis, all requiremore information than could previously be madeavailable by normal market research approaches.

• Although the marketing information systemis not entirely dependent upon the use of com-puters, nonetheless the evolution of these ma-chines to the role of a relatively commonplacearticle in many enterprises, and the concomitantdevelopment of qualified personnel to work withthese computers, means a good deal of informa-tion which previously could not be handled bymore archaic methods, now can be effectively or-ganized and retrieved.

Benefits of a Marketing Information System

An effective marketing information system mayprovide the following benefits:

1. It may provide more information within thetime constraints required by the firm. Concomitantly,

2 Lee Adler, "Systems Approach to Marketing," Har-vard Business Review, Vol. 45 (May-June, 1967), pp.105-118.

3 D. Maynard Phelps and J. Howard Westing, Market-ing Management (Homewood, Illinois: Richard D.Irw-in, Inc., 1968), pp. 9-11.

* Same reference as footnote 1, p. 63.

• ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Conrad Beren-son is proiessor of marketing and ex-ecutive oiiicer oi the PhD program inbusiness at The City University oi NewYork. He has also, ior the past louryears, been serving the American Mar-keting Association's New York Chap-ter as co-director oi the institute iorAdvanced Marketing Studies. Dr. Beren-son has also served as executive direc-tor oi The Research Foundation oi TheCity University oi New York. He received a BChE from TheCity College, an MS in chemical engineering irom ColumbiaUniversity, and an MBA and a PhD irom New York University,both in marketing and management. In addition to his teach-ing and research administration background, Dr. Berenson hashad extensive industrial experience as an engineer. He isconsultant to several iirms. and the author ol several books,plus over 100 articles.

18 Journal of Marketing, October, 1969

better performance could be achieved by the entireenterprise.

2. It may permit large and decentralized firms touse the information which is scattered in manyplaces, and integrate it into a meaningful perspective.

3. It may permit fuller exploitation of the mar-keting concept.

4. It may provide selective retrieval of informa-tion—users can be given only what they want andneed.

5. It may provide quicker recognition of develop-ing trends.

6. It may permit far better use of material whichis ordinarily collected by many firms in the course oftheir business activities; for example, sales by prod-uct, by customer, and by region.

7. It may permit better control over the firm'smarketing plan; for example, it may raise warningsignals when something is amiss in the plan.

8. It may prevent important information frombeing readily suppressed; for example, indicationsthat a product should be withdrawn.

The Environment Needed for aSuccessful System

In a speech presented to the American MarketingAssociation, Arnold Amstutz of M.I.T. has sug-gested that successful marketing information sys-tems need four environmental characteristics."^ First,the system must be designed to provide informationin a form which can be used in the present manage-ment decision processes. The information given tomanagement, furthermore, must be refined to thepoint where management is capable of acting upon it.In other words, management must not be delugedwith mountains of paper.

Second, management must participate in creatingthe parameters of the system's capability. After all.it is management that will be using the informationderived from this system. Therefore, it is this samemanagement that must undertake the specificationof what is needed and how it will be used.

Third, the information which is gathered by thesystem must be filed in what is known as a dis-aggregated data file. In such a file new informa-tion input is maintained together with previouslyreceived input. The net effect of such procedure isthat all previous transactions can be recreated bythe system at any time. This is particularly im-portant with new systems, since such informationsystems are bound to change, and an aggregatedfile, that is, one in which all information is com-bined, may have to be completely discarded as being

5 Arnold E. Amstutz, "The Marketing Executive andManagement Information Systems," Science, Tech-nology and Marketing, Raymond M. Haas (ed.) (Chi-cago: American Marketing Association, Fall, 1966),pp. 69-86.

unsuitable for the changes made in the system. Adisaggregated file, however, contains the inputs insuch a way that they are adaptable to any form ofsystem change.

Finally, the system must be designed so that itcan evolve to fit the continually changing needs ofthe enterprise. Obviously, when the system is firstintroduced it will only use a few of the many tech-niques that are available. As the system users be-come more familiar with its capabilities, their needswill evolve. Thus, the system must be designed sothat it too can cope with these new needs.

Elements of the Marketing Information System

Figure 1 shows a graphical representation of themarketing information system.** The input andoutput shown in that Figure are illustrative only.Obviously, they will change, depending upon the needof the enterprise. Not only will they change withinany one firm over a period of time, but they willdiffer from one enterprise to the next.

The inputs to the system are those items of in-formation which can be used to generate the re-quired output. The output consists of that infor-mation which is needed by marketing managementfor decision-making purposes. The illustrative out-puts shown in Figure 1 can be considerably aug-mented by an effective system. For example, thesales category shows that the sales volume will beindicated by product, by product line, by customerclass, and by region. For each of these categorieswe can also desigrn the system so that it will printout the budgeted or forecasted sales figure, tbecumulative sales to date, and a graphical repre-sentation of curves of cumulative sales, both actualand forecast. Similar expansion of output can beobtained for the profitability data.

The section of the chart marked "Processor" isthe system itself. This system consists not onlyof hardware and software, but of the human ma-chinery which is necessary to carry out the missionof the system, and to accomplish the required mar-keting objectives. The "Processor" sector containsa number of sub-systems, each devoted to a differentfacet of the input and output sectors. Thus, therecould be a sub-system dealing with price, one withmarketing personnel, another with life cycle analy-ses, and others with sales, profitability, marketshare, and advertising effectiveness.

There are several types of controls which can beimposed upon a system.

1. The MIS can be managed by some group with-in the firm.

2. The MIS cj^ be at a higher stage on the in-formation-decision hierarchy than merely the

Walter Buckley, editor. Modern Systems Research forthe Behavioral Scientist (Chicago: Aldine Publish-ing Company, 1968), passim.


I C o n t r o l I

Input Processor Output

Invoicepricequantity purchasedcustomer namecustomer locationcredit termsmethod of deliverydate of order

Annual Reportsof customersof competitorsof suppliers

Trade Association DataPayrollDepartmental BudgetsManufacturing Cost

ReportsAccounts ReceivableAccounts PayableInventory ReportsTrade JournalsSales Call ReportsManning TablesPersonnel Department

ReportsCensus DataMarketing Cost Reports

Market Research Inputs, e.g.,audit and panel dataspecial projectscustomer demand schedulesquestionnaire replies

Feedback

Salesby productby product lineby customer classby cost centerby regionby salesmanby competitors

Profitabilityby productby product lineby customer classby salesman

Market ShareInventoryForecastsTechnical Service

Marketing Personnelturnover ratiohiring ratiotransferspromotionsabsenteeism

Financial

Life CycleAnalysis

credi tdiscount analysis

(by customer,region, etc.)

promotionalallowances

budgets

Customer ListNew AccountsEtc.

FIGURE 1. The marketing information system.

"information system" stage—the stage atwhich the system provides timely, reliable, andsufficient information for managerial deci-sions. It may have advanced to the stage atwhich control capabilities are coupled to thesystem in the form of remote consoles, cathoderay tube terminals, and other devices by whichthe manager and the information system arejoined into an interactive man-machine prob-lem-solving network.''

3. Control or "limits" exist which are set by themarket and the environment in which the firmoperates; examples are social, legal, political,economic, financial, technological, and tem-poral.

4. The "feedback" loop also serves as a control.It monitors the output so that the nature ofthe input can be varied in order to providesubsequent output in accordance with the cur-rent decision-making needs of the marketingexecutive.

It should be noted that the third type of controlmentioned above is utilized in the processor of the

G. W. Dickson, "Management Information-DecisionSystems," Business Horizons, Vol. 11 (December,1968), pp. 17-26.

system shown in Figure 1. For example, if we areconcerned with an information system for an enter-prise manufacturing women's bathing suits, weknow we need a system which has an extremely fastcapability for gathering and processing information.Markets such as those for bathing suits change withextreme rapidity, and last week's information is ofrelatively little value. On the other hand, if wewere dealing with the manufacture of office furni-ture, the system would be quite different; althoughthere are style changes and technological advancesin such a business, these changes are, relativelyspeaking, far slower. The information system'scontrols, accordingly, must be changed to corre-spond with this different sort of market.

Who Is Responsible for the System?

One of the basic decisions which has to be madeearly in the program of any company that wants todevelop a marketing information system is that offixing the responsibility for tbe daily operation ofthe system. There are several aspects to this thatmust be considered.

The primary support for the system must comefrom top management. Unless the principal execu-tives of the organization, both in marketing and inother areas, are firmly convinced and will supportfully the operation and the implementation of a


marketing information system, it is bound to fail.^Beyond this concept of top management support isthe problem of whether or not the system should berun on a daily basis by either a specialist in dataprocessing, or an operating manager who is moreof a generalist and is consequently more knowledge-able within the area of marketing itself.

Both the specialist and the generalist have theirsupporters and critics. The advantages of specialistmanagers are obvious. They have the technical skillsfor rjnning a system. On the other hand, theirdeficiencies are equally obvious. Too often thespecialist simply has not had a sufiScient backgroundin marketing so that he can properly handle theprincipal flows of information that are relevant tothe important marketing decisions. As a result,costly mistakes are inevitable. Also some special-ists overemphasize the system at the expense of thejob which the system is designed to accomplish.

The generalist, or operating manager, has theadvantage of a detailed knowledge of the areas aboutwhich decisions are being made. This can be ex-tremely valuable in designing the system output.The manager, however, is handicapped by his lack ofknowledge relative to information-handling tech-niques. Such generalists tend to concentrate uponinformation which will provide immediate profit tothe marketing sector at the expense of the long-runprofitability.

Responsibility for the system should rest withthe top marketing executive who, after all, is ac-countable for the performance of the entire market-ing sector of the enterprise. This is not intendedto infer that the specialist-technician should nothave a good deal of responsibility; nonetheless, thetask which is being performed is a marketing taskand it is the marketing manager's responsibility tosupervise all marketing activities. In consequenceof the duality of roles, the last several years haveseen the development of a new po.sition title in manybusiness firms, that of director of marketing infor-mation services. This title is ordinarily held by anindividual who is primarily a technical specialistwho, hopefully, has some marketing knowledge aswell, and who is capable of utilizing expert staffassistance in marketing. This individual usuallyreports to the marketing manager who, as statedabove, really bears the ultimate responsibility forall facets of the marketing task.

Organizational Problems of MarketingInformation Systems

In the few years in which marketing informationsystems have been used, it has become obvious thatthere are some typical organizational problems which

occur unless extensive foresight, as well as care inexecution of the system, is exercised. These arebriefiy discussed below.

1. Faulty Integration between Sub-systems

It must be recognized that the marketing infor-mation system is just one part of a total manage-ment information system; the other part embracessuch areas as finance, production, and personnel. Toogreat an emphasis upon the objectives of any one ofthese parts without constant realization that it isthe entire enterprise's efficiency which must be opti-mized can result in a failure of the system toachieve its objectives economically. The problemsometimes becomes particularly acute when the out-put from one organization is needed as part of theinput for the other.

2. Changes in Jobs and Skill Requirements

The implementation of a marketing informationsystem will require the marketing department tobring new skills into its organization and to createnew job functions to utilize these skills. In addi-tion to these totally new jobs and skills, there willcertainly be changes in existing work patterns.After all, many new documents and new informa-tion will be generated, and the traditional ways ofhandling information will probably no longer beadequate. Consequently, we are going to have prob-lems of personal confiict, of adjustment to newtypes of work, of dissatisfaction with new work en-vironments, of human inertia, of obstruction, andthe like.

3. Relationships between the System's Designers andthe System's Users

Those who are using the system's outputs mustget involved with the system's design—otherwisethere will be excessive friction at the interface be-tween designers and users. Some marketing de-cision makers with authoritative positions in theenterprise must be assigned to work with the sys-tem's designers. It must be borne in mind that theusers must develop plans for utilizing system output.They should not simply expect a mass of data to bedeposited with them several times each day, andthen sit around and wonder what to do with it."

The System's Relation to otherCorporate Functions

One question that must be raised is "What is therelationship of the marketing information systemto the other functions of the organization?" The

8 Donald F. Cox and Robert E. Good, "How To BuildA Marketing Information System," Harvard Busi-ness Review, Vol. 45 (May-June, 1967), pp. 145-154.

Emanuel Kay, "Some Organizational Problems WhichArise As The Result of Large-Scale Information Sys-tems," in Samuel V. Smith, et al (eds.). Readingsin Marketing Information Systems (Boston: Hough-ton Mifflin Company, 1968), pp. 323-329.


rTechnicalServiceManager

President

ExecutiveVice

President

V.P.Long RangePlanning

V.P.Marketing

T TAdvertising& PromotionManager

TManager ofMarketingInfo,System

1ProductPlanningManager

ProductManagers

FIGURE 2. Organizing for marketing information systems.

easiest way to present this relationship is in theform of a chart, and this is shown in Figure 2.Here, it can be seen that the marketing informationsystem is a part of the marketing area. The latterarea is led by a single marketing executive who,ordinarily, would have a title such as vice presidentof marketing, or marketing manager. The organi-zation shown is one for a company which is or-ganized along what has come to be known as themarketing management concept. This concept re-quires all of the marketing operations of the enter-prise to be so organized that one individual only hasresponsibility for all such operations and that he beequal in rank with other top corporate executives.The latter relationship is also shown on the chaHand indicates that the vice presidents of produc-tion, research and development, finance, and soforth are in the same echelon as the top marketingexecutive.

Relation to the Marketing PlanThe marketing plan is the basic working docu-

ment by which the marketing department conductsits activities. Obviously, every facet of this planrequires information so that appropriate decisionscan be made. The output of the marketing infor-mation system hence provides the input to the mar-keting plan for these marketing decisions. There-fore, the relationship of the information system tothe marketing plan is two-fold: Cl) the marketingplan uses the output of the information system, and(2) provides control criteria for the marketing in-formation system.

A Brief Look at some Operating Systems

ChemstrandThe Chemstrand Company has an advanced mar-

keting information system. For example, theChemstrand system will provide detailed sales an-alyses by product, by category of product, by sales

district, type of process, type of end-use, the typeof mill, and so on. Reports are sent to the com-pany's salesmen concerning their transactions withtheir customers; different marketing groups getspecific reports which are relevant to their particularsphere of interest. For example, product managersreceive analyses of the marketing operations of theirparticular area of responsibility. Records are keptof consumer behavior in 7500 households whichrepresent a sample of the national market, so thatthese socioeconomic backgrounds and attitudes canbe analyzed to determine buying trends and otherrelated information.'•^

The system also keeps close tabs on Chemstrand'scompetitors and, in addition, also turns out a num-ber of short-, medium-, and long-range forecasts.These forecasts are made by industry, by company,and by end users. Projections are made for approxi-mately 400 different products on a short-term basis.

Lever BrothersLever Brothers has a system that produces 2500

different pages of daily reports, 3000 pages of weeklyreports, and 40,000 pages of monthly reports. Thus,managers have daily tabulations for the sales oftheir brands by geographic districts. Data are alsoprovided as to whether the sales quota is beingachieved, and how close to this the salesman iscoming. It is possible to compare brands by zones,by districts, and by regions."

Every month there are reports on more than 3000important customers and, best of all, they are avail-able during the first week of the new month. Thesereports show a variety of information such as howwell a particular account is doing vis-li-vis its pei-formance in a prior year.

'<* Phyllis Daignault, "Marketing Management and theComputer," SaUs Management, Vol. 95 (August 20,1965), pp. 49-60.

" Same reference as footnote 10, pp. 58-59.


RCAAnother example can be found with RCA, whose

system can provide sales analyses by product, byterritory, comparisons with quota, and so forth. Theyhave a program to determine the amount of eachmodel of the product line which is to be sold toeach distributor. It is based on the distributor'ssales history, and the knowledge of his territory'smarket potential, as well as RCA's market sharewithin that area.

Another program combines 100 variables to de-termine the gross margin for individual models orfamilies of products. In addition, there are monthlyreports which show sales by product, by dealercounty area, and by distributor. These outputs rep-resent, of course, only a fraction of the output ofthe RCA system.i2

Myths and Pitfalls of MarketingInformation Systems

Because there has been so much talk about mar-keting information systems and very little hard factconcerning how well they have operated under avariety of industry types and conditions, a numberof myths have evolved concerning the nature andcapabilities of marketing information systems. Ofcourse, there are some pitfalls that are well recog-nized, since they are generally the same as thoseassociated with other information systems, such asmanagement information systems.

Several of these myths and pitfalls are brieflydiscussed below:

• Not every firm should have a computer-ori-ented marketing information system. While it istrue that it is fashionable to talk about one, thereare some companies that are equipped neither torun one nor to utilize the output. For thesefirms the expenditure on the development of thissystem would be a waste.

• The marketing information system should notbe based solely on the computer. While this is avital tool, there are still many "old-fashioned"forms and procedures which are quite good.

• Be careful of a revolutionary effect upon theenterprise. The firm simply may not be able tohandle both the personnel problems and the outputof the system.

• The marketing information system is not asubstitute for basic market research of the tra-ditional type. Such market research is still re-quired for specific studies of particular marketingproblems and for handling information needswhich are outside the sphere of interest of thesystem.

• It is too easy to accept a computer print-outwith 100% confidence, simply because it is neat

and voluminous. However, this does not make itright and the marketing manager must rememberthat outputs are only as good as the inputs usedto generate them.

• Marketing information systems are not new.Obviously, they have existed for some time, sincemanagers have for a long period had reliable andcomprehensive and timely sources of information.What we do have at the present time is a capabilityfor making the system far more comprehensiveand for equipping it to handle vastly increasedquantities of input with effectiveness andpromptness.

• The same marketing information system can-not serve all levels of management, nor can alllevels benefit equally from such systems. The topmanagers, for example, require information whichis of such a nature that it permits them to makestrategic choices. Middle managers and lowerlevel supervisors require different types ofinformation.'' Within any one level, the sophisti-cation of the system must be selected carefully sothat it is compatible with the managers who willuse it.

• Because computers have such an enormouscapacity, there is a tendency to make the infor-mation too detailed and wide-ranging. This is amistake. The marketing manager should be pro-vided with an amount of information sufficient fordecision making and no more. If there is toomuch information, that which is relevant and use-ful will be hidden in the mass of excess input andoutput.

Insofar as the marketing manager is concerned,the proper design of the marketing informationsystem is one which emphasizes not the outpouringof great masses of data, but rather the filtration,condensation, and evaluation of masses of infor-mation into more manageable form.**

• You cannot expect to develop at one time atotal system that will handle all of the marketinginformation needs of your enterprise. Instead,the system must be developed and implemented insmall, manageable stages. How much time is re-quired for the development of the system to itsfullest capacity is very difilicult to state. Onecompany may be able to implement a fairly com-prehensive system in one year, while othercompanies may require five or ten years beforetheir systems are fully operational.

• There is a danger in the fact that manymarketing managers do not know what informa-tion they really need, yet one of the precepts ofdesigning a good marketing information systemis that the marketing manager must be consulted.

'2 Same reference as footnote 10, pp. 59-60.

'^Ridley Rhind, "Management Information Systems,"Business Horizons, Vol. 11 (June, 1968), pp. 37-46.

•^Same reference as footnote 8, p. 152.


Unfortunately, the great tendency is for people todemand more information about areas of whichthey are uncertain. The result, of course, is thatin those decision-making areas about which themarketing managers are not too confident, theyrequire the system designers to provide far moreinformation than they really need.

• Do not take it for granted that simply be-cause your marketing personnel will be given moreinformation than they had previously they willknow what to do with it. Therefore, during de-sign of the marketing information system, firmsteps must be taken to insure that the managersare prepared to use the output of that systemeffectively.

• The final pitfall is that too often managersfeel that they do not have to understand how thesystem works, but merely to take advantage of itscapability. While this is true to a certain degree,nonetheless it requires them to place too much

faith in a system which simply may not be func-tioning properly insofar as their decision needsand marketing objectives are concerned. Whilethe managers who use the system need not bespecialists in its design and implementation, theymust be sufficiently aware of the mechanics of thesystem so that they can evaluate its output andprovide suggestions for improvement of thesystem.

Summary

Marketing information systems are part of themarketing wave of the future. They are important,and they are beginning to function very well. How-ever, like any radical change imposed upon an or-ganization, they can be very expensive and havegreat potential for damage. Hence, they must beused carefully and with a recognition of their po-tential for damage. The rewards of struggling withthe many problems of developing a successful systemare, however, well worthwhile.

•MARKETING MEMO

Grobins and Spring . . .

. . . no study, whether a true experiment or not, ever proves a theory; it merelyprobes it. True experiments, as well as other designs, are vulnerable to the threatsof external validity, (kneralizability involves considerably more than the relation ofthe sample of research subjects to some population. Generalization involves researchsubjects, measurement variables, conceptual variables, and test settings. If a secondstudy should happen to replicate a first with respect to all four categories of featuresjust noted and if it should yield similar results, the second study would provide con-firmatory evidence of the findings of the first. If a third study should deviate fromthe first in some respects—e.g., using college seniors where the first had usedsophomores, and/or using a new scale for the same conceptual variable—and if itproduced results similar to those in the first study, this third study would help notmerely to confirm the original relationship but to extend its generalizability withrespect to categories of research subjects and measurement variables. By such ac-cretion we acquire confidence in the range of generalizability.

—Robert F. Winch and Donald T. Camp-bell, "Proof? No. Evidence? Yes. TheSignificance of Tests of Significance,"The American Sociologist (May, 1969),pp. 140-143 at p. 143.

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Marketing Information Systems - American Marketing … · Marketing Information Systems 17 volume of information inputs than market research is structured to do.^ The market research